Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to amend hackney regulations to ensure the owner of an SPSV licence will only be permitted to use that licence on a vehicle registered to the same name; if his attention been drawn to the fact that many hackneys in rural Ireland operate under licences that are rented from previous operators as no new licences are available to purchase; if he will consider allowing hackney operators to purchase the licences they operate under from the owners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55740/12]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Action 15 of the Taxi Regulation Review Report 2011 proposes a requirement for all holders of small public service vehicles (SPSV) vehicles to also be the registered owner of the vehicle to which the licence relates, with certain limited exclusions permitted to deal with vehicles operating under long term leases. The aim of this proposal is to ensure responsibility is taken by the vehicle licence holder for the upkeep of safety and other standards of vehicles being used to carry members of the public. I understand that the National Transport Authority (NTA) is in the process of bringing in legislation to give effect to this proposal, which will apply to all small public service vehicles, including hackneys.

I am informed by the NTA that hackney licences are not currently transferable to another person and that the NTA do not have any proposals to change that position.   I am also informed by the NTA that the current regulations do facilitate the issuing of wheelchair accessible hackney licences. As part of the Taxi Review, the Review Group considered the specific SPSV requirements in rural areas and in this regard the Review Group proposed the development of a local area hackney licence under Action 46 of the Review Report. The aim of the proposed local area hackney licence is to facilitate the low cost entry to the hackney market for transport provision in rural areas that, otherwise, would be unlikely to have such services. I understand that the NTA will be considering bringing forward proposals to advance this recommendation during next year.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason SPSV's registered prior to January 2009 or their registered number is under 45,000 are permitted to use a vehicle up to 15 years old while SPSV's registered after that date or are numbered above 45,000 are only permitted to use a vehicle of up to 10 years old; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55744/12]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The regulation of the taxi industry, including issues pertaining to vehicle age limit, is a matter for the National Transport Authority (NTA) under the Taxi Regulation Act, 2003. The NTA is the lead agency with responsibility for implementation of the recommendations of the Taxi Regulation Review Report 2011. I am informed by the NTA that proposals to limit the age of operation of small public service vehicles (excluding limousines) to nine years of age were first mooted some years ago and those entrants to the taxi industry since January 2009 have entered that industry on the basis of the intended introduction of such age limits.

This position was then reflected in Action 10 of the Taxi Regulation Review Report published in January of this year, which recognised the January 2009 date.   While the intention of that recommendation is that, over time, vehicles older than nine years will be removed from the taxi and hackney fleet, the report recommended a transitional arrangement to accommodate licence holders who had entered the industry prior to 2009.   Those arrangements would permit the relevant vehicles to operate up to and including fourteen years, subject to passing a roadworthiness (NCT) test and an NTA Licence Renewal Assessment at six monthly intervals where the vehicle is over 9 years. I understand that the NTA is in the process of introducing regulations to give effect to these age related provisions.